Grohe’s very first fully-owned flagship store in the world aims to change the way we shop for our bathrooms and kitchens through the use of smart technologies and highly engaging customer experiences.
15 March 2018
Text by Janice Seow
Let’s be honest, shopping for the bathroom and kitchen can be a rather mind-boggling and stressful experience; the products often look similar and purport to carry similar-sounding functions.
The brand new Grohe Spa flagship store at Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road – the brand’s first-ever fully-owned flagship in the world – looks to change that outlook entirely. The 6,000sqft, two-level showroom has been specially designed to give visitors a holistic shopping experience where they can come and learn about Grohe’s innovative water technologies and how they operate, and even how the products might look in their own home.
“People often don’t know where to begin when they upgrade the bathroom. Do they start from the designer, the plumber, or even the tiles? We want to make the entire process an easy one. That’s our job,” says Bijoy Mohan, CEO of Lixil Asia Pacific, the company that owns world-leading German sanitary fittings brand, Grohe.
“Secondly, we need to create a more inspirational experience for consumers. We have to engage them, because today the consumer has got many options of what to do with the dollar that they have,” says Bijoy.
The new store certainly offers no shortage of ways to capture the visitor’s attention.
The Grohe Spa showroom features live water areas where one can experience the company’s Dreamspray technology first-hand.
It also carries smart technologies that help consumers and designers visualise and plan their selections. For example, using VR technology, the Grohe Spa Shower Configurator allows visitors to customise their preferred shower system and experience how it comes together in function and design before making a purchase. Using a VR headset, visitors can see their selections brought to life via projections, all without getting wet.
“We have a lot of live products and simulations because it allows people to get an understanding of what’s possible,” says Bijoy.
At the showroom, visitors can also get immediate access to information via a mobile device with the help of RFID technology. They can learn more about each product displayed and get detailed specifications as they walk through the store, tagging and emailing the desired information to themselves immediately.
While the ground floor focuses on using technology to help customers visualise, understand, experience and connect with the designs, and even configure their own designs, the second level has a large section that shows how Grohe products are used in hotels and spas around the world. The interior mock-ups of actual projects demonstrate the diverse styles and solutions that can be had with Grohe’s products.
Visit Grohe Spa at Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, #01-04/05, www.grohe.sg
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